


Out of Tempo

by AnonymousOtter



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fluff, Flustered Claude von Riegan, Light Angst, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousOtter/pseuds/AnonymousOtter
Summary: Byleth struggles with her feelings; Claude struggles with his schemes. Nothing like a day off amidst the chaos of war to clear your mind; nothing like a dance to remember the past.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 10
Kudos: 91





	Out of Tempo

**Author's Note:**

> Oops! All the Claudeleth tropes!

For 20 years, Byleth had lived in what she would now best describe as a _haze_. She had travelled the world with her father, fought many battles and seen many things by his side, but all those events would just brush against her like a breeze, leaving very little impact on her mind and her memory. Every day felt like the one that came before and she didn’t—couldn’t—really mind. All that mattered then was the present day, the foes she was hired to kill, the food hot in her plate and the comfort of a bed at night.

And then, Sothis awakened into her. Slowly, that grey world of hers started to gain colours. Those feelings she could barely differentiate until then took names.

“Nervousness”, when she taught her students for the first time. “Happiness”, when her guidance allowed them to grab the win during the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. “Excitement”, when Hilda pampered her in preparation for the New Year Festival. “Shyness”, when Claude asked her to dance with him.

Then “sadness” when her father died.

“Anger” when Edelgard betrayed the Church and declared war.

“Despair” when Dimitri crawled in the mud to meet a gruesome death at Gronder Field, five years later.

And “pride”, so much pride, every time she was looking at her former students and at Claude, the eternal dreamer who had turned into a competent leader and who was guiding them through this hell with a composed smile on his face.

And now, everything seemed to cling to her. Every new moment was painted with those feelings, and she could remember them more vividly than she would ever have before. If it could have been a blessing, it was but a strange sensation for someone who never used to dwell on the past.

Ever since she had reunited with her students, Byleth had a strange feeling when she was looking at them. So little time had passed for her and, in the blink of an eye, they all suddenly looked, sounded, acted so differently. It was almost uncanny.

For some reason, that sensation was the worst when it came to Claude. She speculated that maybe it was because he was the one she always was the closest to. Or maybe because he was the first she had reunited with.

When she saw him inside the Goddess Tower bathing in the morning sun, she didn’t even recognise him. There was something familiar about his face, sure, and based on what she had learnt an hour prior, it was only logical that that man would be him. But what even was “logical” when she had just spent five whole years sleeping? And so, it’s only when that man called her “friend” that she allowed herself to connect the dots. Claude had changed, naturally, and it shouldn’t have surprised her, but it still did anyway. His voice was lower, his eyes darker, and while he was still wearing his usual reassuring smile like a mask, it was more genuine somehow. More broken. And even as the months passed, her brain still had trouble reconciliating that new him with the man she had known back at the Academy.

These feelings, of course, Byleth dared not speak of, nor allowed herself to vocalise at any point. She never was the talkative type and she didn’t want to frighten her friends. There were more important matters to attend to at the moment, and the stakes were higher than her own, personal problems.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Fort Merceus was their next step in this war, and it was not an easy one. From the get-go, Claude seemed determined to solve this riddle. He had promised to live up to his reputation and to that “Master Tactician” nickname he not-so-secretly hated, but whether he wanted to admit it or not, even him had his limits. After two weeks, it was becoming obvious the task was starting to get a little too much for him. He was barely showing up at dinner anymore, let alone at training, and his trips between his “private quarters”, as he liked to call his bedroom, and the library, were more and more frequent. What he was looking for exactly, no one knew, for he didn’t like to share his secrets, but every night during her last patrol, Byleth would notice the faint light peeping through the cracks of his closed door.

One day, they all witnessed him crossing the main hall looking like hell and it was the moment they decided they had to take action. If even Claude, who was always making a point to look at the top of his game, forgot to shave, then it meant something was wrong. They knew he wouldn’t let himself get caught away from his duty, so they elaborated a plan. The day after, as he was walking at a fast pace in the gardens, an apple in one hand and some maps in the other, eyes focused on whatever was written there, Leonie blocked his way. She wasn’t subtle about it, arms and legs outstretched to make sure he couldn’t sneak out. A serious look was painted on her face. Lorenz and Raphael slowly appeared behind her.

“Come on,” Claude said with a tired voice. “I have no time for this.”

He then tried to go the other way, but he found Marianne and Ignatz there. For some reason, Marianne was holding a pan in front of her.

“Listen, Claude, we just want to sit down with you for a minute!” Leonie shouted from behind his back.

“Are you sure you’re not planning to murder me instead?”

Marianne was trembling at this point, pointing the pan in his direction as if it was a deadly weapon.

“Plea … please…! Don’t struggle!” she shrieked.

Claude stayed dumbfounded. His body started to shiver and for a second, they all thought he was going to lose it for good and shout at them. Instead he just laughed and raised his hands in forfeit with a smug smile.

“Alright, alright, I give up.”

They sat him down and gave him a proper hot meal, probably the first he had in days. Hilda and Lorenz lectured him on his pitiful appearance, and he was keen to forget about his schemes for a moment.

Lysithea and Marianne are feeling a bit down lately, they explained. They could all afford for a small break. Why not go hunting? North of Garreg Mach, the region is wild and there’s no imperial presence there. Just the Deer and the professor, like old times. The affair of a day. Hunting, of course, is not exactly a relaxing activity, but it is good for spirits and they could all live with some fresh meat in these dire times. Come on, _even Lorenz had agreed!_

Claude thought about how he’d really appreciate a break, even if he would never admit it in front of them. His schemes to take down Fort Merceus, so far, were going nowhere, and he knew that in times like these, what he really needed was to focus on something else entirely. Some training couldn’t hurt either and he knew there were some demonic beasts out there that would be better off dead. And if the girls needed that break… Well, that was a good pretext. And so, he agreed to the trip.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

At the end of their hunting day, they went back with some rabbits, a dozen trouts and a few demonic beasts killed. It was just the nine of them, all beaten and dirty, laughing together like old times, and it felt good.

For Byleth, it was a bit different. It felt _right_ , as if those last few months of war were nothing but a bad dream, a parenthesis, and she had awoken ready to start again where she left off five years prior, at the bottom of that damned cliff.

Raphael and Leonie were guiding the group, discussing how to cook the meat. Lysithea was trotting around to catch up on them, holding some fruits Claude had picked up for her on some trees perched at the top of a rock. Ignatz was showing his sketches to Marianne, and she was nodding with that little pout she always had was she was concentrating. At the rear of the group, Lorenz was talking politics with Hilda and Byleth, whose minds were elsewhere entirely. From time to time, the three of them would keep quiet and eye behind them at Claude, perched on his wyvern, visibly happy but too tired to chat.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

“Come on, Claude! Time to eat!” Hilda shouted at him from the main entrance.

He was the only one still outside. He had dismounted and he was petting his wyvern in silence.

“I have to take care of her first,” he explained. “And to be honest with you… I am pretty tired. I think I’ll skip dinner and just go to bed when I’m done here. Sorry. Don’t wait for me!”

Hilda was disappointed but she didn’t press the matter. It was still a secret, but all of this was for his sake after all; so he could relax and finally get a good night of sleep. So she simply waved her hand at him and went inside, leaving him alone in the courtyard.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

“Claude _really_ isn’t coming, is he?” Lysithea asked, mouth half-full of fruits as Raphael was starting to serve the last grilled fishes.

“Our dear old Claude is sleeping like a baby as we speak,” Hilda answered.

“It’s for the best,” Marianne added softly, a gentle smile on her lips.

Silence settled and only mastication sounds could be heard for a while. They had laughed and talked a lot, but they were all tired at this point, and the only thing on their mind was to leave soon and join Claude into the sweet world of dreams.

“You should all go take a bath and rest,” Byleth blurted. “I’ll clean up.”

Lorenz took an air of indignation and stood up. “Professor, this would be very improper to let you do that, let me…”

“It’s not negotiable,” she responded with a smile, and those were so rare, he instantly gave up.

They finished their plates in silence and piled them up near the sink, thanked her again and left the place. Only Hilda stayed behind, still seated for she had Lorenz clean after herself. She stretched out her arms across the table, looking at Byleth with a mischievous smile.

“Professor, did you have fun today?”

Byleth simply nodded. “Very much, yes.”

“I thought so. You looked very happy tonight. I think you needed that break as much as Claude did.”

“Claude…”

“Claude will be fine,” Hilda mocked, waving her hand. “He’s just shy, that’s it.”

Now, that was a word Byleth would have never associated with him. Noticing how she had picked up her attention, Hilda’s smile grew wicked.

“He doesn’t like it when he’s losing control,” she continued. “And when he’s tired like that… Well, let’s just say he has a hard time keeping a cool head, so he just prefers to disappear.”

Byleth wasn’t surprised Hilda could read Claude that well. She knew Hilda and Claude had always been close and she even suspected something was going on between them back at the Academy. Hilda had grown into the person who could understand him better than anyone else, and Byleth knew it was because she was the one who had been there supporting him for the last five years. While she was grateful that Claude had such a good friend to rely on, she lamented she couldn’t have done the same for him and, truth to be told, she was a little jealous.

“You should check on him when you see him tomorrow. Alone, I mean,” Hilda continued. “Claude will never admit it, but he likes it when you take care of him.”

With that, Hilda gave her a wink that betrayed she had indeed spent too much time with Claude and she was off, leaving behind her the delicate scent of her perfume.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Left alone in the kitchen, Byleth sat in the darkness with two candles as her only light source. She was done tidying up and had put the leftovers on separate platters for the next day, but she wasn’t tired. Left alone with her thoughts, she played with an apple on the table, rolling it with the palm of her hand. Days like these, far away from the turmoils of war, reminded her of better times. Right now, she didn’t have to think about the present, and even less about the future, and it was for the best.

That’s when she heard steps behind her, then the sound of someone stumbling and cursing. A voice she would recognise between a thousand.

Claude entered the room.

Surprised to find Byleth there by herself, he froze on the spot. His initial shock swiftly disappeared to be replaced by his usual detached look.

“Oh Teach,” he said, “I thought you were already in bed.”

“And I thought you were asleep,” she simply replied.

“I was! Slept like a baby. Then I woke up with my entire body on fire and the hunger of a demonic beast…”

He was wearing light clothes and his groggy eyes betrayed that he had been sleeping only a moment earlier.

“If you were that tired, maybe we should have waited tomorrow for this little trip…”

“No, no Teach, it was perfect.”

He was looking for food now, opening bags and cupboards as if he owned the place. He found fish, smelled it, made a perplexed look and picked some rabbit instead.

“You know how I am. When my mind is fixated unto something, I cannot sleep. This trip was for the best,” he mused, biting into an apple.

He sat in front of her and started to eat, barely paying attention to her. The food was already cold, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Byleth observed him. He indeed looked much better than he had for the last month or so. He had obviously taken a bath and slept with his hair still wet, for it looked unusually ruffled. He had shaved, probably because the damages of weeks of neglect on his facial hair were beyond repair. The shape of his pillowcase was still imprinted on his left cheek. Byleth had never seen him so unkempt and relaxed, and it fit him well. For once, he looked like his age. Cute.

_Cute?_

She wondered why that thought was crossing her mind. It wasn’t really the sort of things she would usually notice. Between them, there was some sort of attraction and she knew as much, for Claude was a handsome man. But everyone felt that way when he was around. Even Lorenz had confessed it one night he had drunk too much.

Were she honest with herself, Byleth would have realised Claude actually had been occupying her thoughts for quite a long time. Ever since the ball at Garreg Mach, probably. She remembered when he had invited her on the dance floor. He had taken her right hand into his, put the other on the small of her back and, resting his cheek against hers, he had pressed their bodies together in a way that was far from appropriate.

“They are all staring at us,” she had murmured in his ear, feeling the heat building up on her cheeks under the weight of the eyes scrutinising them. She could feel the smirk forming on his face as he answered in a breath.

“Then let’s them watch.”

That night, as they danced together clumsily, Byleth started to identify another feeling in her guts, one she never really dared to name.

“Tea—”

“Teach—”

“My friend!”

Byleth was suddenly driven away from her memories. Claude was staring at her with a circumspect look on his face.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, munching some rabbit.

“Y-yes. I was lost in my thoughts for a second.”

He observed her, obviously not fooled, and decided to push a little.

“Tell me, Teach… What was the real reason behind that trip? I saw Lysithea one-shot that beast today, and she really didn’t seem that unwell. And Marianne even laughed at Lorenz’ jokes. Obviously, there’s something I’m missing.”

Byleth didn’t get the time to answer that he was already continuing.

“It’s because of you, isn’t it? I noticed you’ve been acting strange lately. Are you feeling ill? We didn’t really get much time to talk these past weeks and I…”

Byleth interrupted him with a soft smile that managed to surprise him.

How could someone be so brilliant, yet so dense? She wasn’t good with people and feelings, but sometimes, it really felt like she was a genius compared to Claude.

“I won’t deny I needed some rest, but no, Claude,” she said after regaining some composure. “It was supposed to be a secret, but well… This is all for you.”

“For … me…?” he asked with round eyes, a finger pointed at his face. He paused for a few seconds to give his brain some time to process the information. He tried to suppress the dumb smile of sheer happiness that was trying to bloom on his face. Instead, his whole face turned into the loveliest shade of pink Byleth had ever seen.

He was looking so confused and flustered, Byleth wondered if her words had hurt him in some way. After all, Claude was always trying his best to be that anchor other people could hold on to. He never let anyone know about his inner turmoil. That they saw through him so easily must have felt like a failure for him, didn’t it?

“You know, we just thought that if it were just us, you could relax without worrying about keeping appearances,” she quickly added. She allowed herself to look at him in the eyes. “I’m sorry if this offended you in any way.”

“Why would I be offended, Teach?”

His high-pitched voice betrayed his enthusiasm.

“Well, you just seemed distant, that’s all,” Byleth said.

“I’m good! Never felt better!” He sighted. “To be honest with you… I wasn’t so sure about this little … excursion at first. But I’ll admit it was just what I needed. Please, don’t repeat it, but my grand scheme isn’t going on exactly as I intended. But after taking a little break, I can see how it will clear my mind, and I bet in two days, I’ll be all set,” he added quickly.

He was obviously lying both to her and to himself, but Byleth didn’t feel it worth pointing out. After all, it was obvious this day off had already benefitted him greatly, and to see him in such high spirits put her at ease.

“But what about you, my friend?” he suddenly asked. “You tried to brush it off, but I can tell something’s been bothering you… I won’t press the matter, but you know you can tell me everything, right?”

There was genuine concern in his voice. Byleth sighted.

“Tell me, Claude… When we met up at the beginning of the year… Did you expect me to look like that?”

He seemed taken aback by the question.

“What do you mean?”

“It had been five years … and I didn’t change. At all.”

“Well, my theory about that is that you weren’t actually asleep… It was more like a stasis. Your ‘personal goddess’ protected you, sealing you away … “

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” she blurted. “I mean… You should have expected me to look different after all this time, right? It had been five years.”

“Mmh… I guess I was more concerned about seeing you at all. You know… Deep down I always knew you were alive but… It defied all logic. I didn’t want to project myself and imagine that sort of stuff.”

“For me … you are very different,” she admitted.

“How so? Lorenz keeps telling me I’m still a brat…”

“You look much more … mature. Not just your appearance. All of you. When I woke up, a man told me what year it was. And I saw the Monastery had aged, of course… But somehow … somehow I didn’t expect _you_ to be older.” A sad smile appeared on her face. “Sorry, I don’t make sense.” She shook her head.

“No, no Teach. Tell me if I’m mistaken but… I think I understand.” His face turned serious. “When a change is gradual, no matter how big the difference is in the end, you won’t notice it as much as if it were sudden. You are shocked to see me this old because for you, I was still a boy a few moons ago. But for me, it’s the other way around. In my memories, you’ve always just been yourself, exactly the same as you are today. Even if I expected you to have changed, the present you doesn’t contradict the image I had of you. You are the same person, and in a way, that’s exactly what I expected.”

Byleth nodded. “It makes sense. But I feel like we live in two different timelines.” Her face became graver. “The death of my father must be a distant memory for you … but for me, it was just moons ago. It’s like everyone got over it. Everyone but me.”

“I don’t think time will ever change that feeling, my friend,” Claude said with a sad smile.

“These peaceful days…” Byleth continued, “It’s strange, they feel so close and yet I know they were years ago. I missed so much.”

“I can assure you, you really haven’t.” He laughed lightly. “Mostly some chaos. Okay, more like _a lot_ of chaos. Oh, and that awkward phase when my voice dropped. Kind of happy you missed that, actually,” he added with a wink.

Claude was looking at her with brilliant eyes and Byleth could feel their weight on her body, as if he were now thinking about her words and looking for something off about her appearance. Claude cared. She had all his attention and she felt like she did that night, long ago. _I am really not used to this_ , she thought.

“What is your most precious memory from the Academy, Teach?” he asked in a quiet voice.

Eyes fixated on her hands, Byleth answered with a smile directed at herself.

“The night of the Festival. That’s the one moment I’d like to go back to.”

Truth to be told, it was the last time they really had fun at the Academy, and maybe that’s why she cherished this memory in particular. Or so she wanted to believe, anyway.

“Oh, really? I didn’t paint you for a romantic!” Claude exclaimed.

“Even I can enjoy getting taken care of once in a while,” Byleth answered, and as she said these words, Claude’s eyes wandered to the bracelet around her wrist. Hilda was the one who chose it for her birthday. At that time, Claude had argued Byleth just wasn’t the type to wear that sort of girly jewellery, but ever since then, there hadn’t been a single day she had not worn it. He had to admit he was wrong and lost a few gold coins to a smug Hilda, that day.

“It’s true that night was a good one! And not one I’d forget!” he said.

He winked and the excitement building up in his voice made Byleth nostalgic again.

“It’s a bit sad that we didn’t get the opportunity to do this again like we promised we would, though,” he sighted.

True. They had reunited on the night of the Festival, but they were too busy trying to understand the situation to celebrate. Claude looked at her, lost in her thoughts. He suddenly stood up, walked towards her and extended a hand in her direction.

“What about now?” he asked.

“There’s no music…” Byleth answered when she finally understood the implication.

“You don’t need no music to dance. And it’s not like we’re good at it anyway,” he said with a cocky smile.

He had a point, and so she took his hand, like she had years ago. She put her left hand on his shoulder while his free hand found its place on her back. Unlike the last time, his posture was more conventional and Byleth wondered if he had practised during the past five years.

“See, I’ve been training!” he said cheerfully, as if he could read her thoughts. “Judith … encouraged me to take some lessons, because _apparently_ my technique was too bold for the ladies!”

“What do you mean too bol—“

Before she could finish her sentence, Claude suddenly shifted his position with a quick move and made her spin. She was caught off guard, which was only betrayed by the small round shape her mouth took for a second, her mercenary reflexes too good for her to stumble even a little. His grip on her hand firm and commanding, he brought her back into his arms, picked her under the armpits and lift her. He then carried her around like that through the dining hall, mimicking a waltz, her legs swinging in the air in rhythm with his own steps. Byleth had way enough strength to resist had she wanted to, but she found that she loved the sensation and loved that laid-back, almost childish part of him. She felt like flying.

After a few silent measures, he finally put her down, resumed his original posture and continued to dance with her clumsily at an energetic pace, bashing into whatever furniture was standing in their way.

Byleth had her eyes fixated on him but he couldn’t return her the attention because his own eyes were crinkled with joy. Slowly coming out of his throat, she heard a whisper at first that turned quickly into a chuckle, then into a full blown-out laughter. It was warm and heartfelt, so loud it echoed on the old walls of the room. Everyone in the dormitories probably heard him, but Claude didn’t realise, didn’t care maybe; and neither did Byleth. If Claude always had an easy-going, cheerful attitude, she knew it was mostly just a mask and she had never seen him so happy before. His childish demeanour superimposed to his manly appearance, Claude finally matched the image she had been looking for on his face during these past months. As if she had finally found the missing piece of the puzzle she was trying to put together for so long, she felt a profound relief.

Claude’s laugh was contagious, their dance absurd and the look of absolute bliss on his face heart-warming, and so Byleth began to laugh as well. When they were both left breathless and their laughs started to slowly turn into sweet giggles, Claude calmed down and pulled her closer. Byleth could feel his heartbeat slowing down little by little.

_Now, it’s much more like the last time_ , she thought.

She closed her eyes and calmed down her breathing, following his own. She slowly started to feel like she was returning there, on the night of the Festival. They moved glued to each other and with every new step they took, the memories got more vivid. She could smell the perfumes in the air and feel the weight of the gazes. She could hear the laughs. The melody of the violins. Claude’s defiant words vibrating in her brain.

_Then let’s them watch_.

“Claude, why did you dance with me during the Festival?” she asked him, breaking the silence that had settled between them.

He didn’t answer immediately, pondering whether it was better to tell her the truth or just what she wanted to hear.

“I’ll be honest with you, Teach,” he began, “I just wanted them all to be jealous.”

He chuckled and made her spin, slower this time, before pulling her right back into his arms.

“They were all waiting for me to dance, you know. I caught them talk about me in the hallways many times during that moon. They knew my skills wouldn’t be … conventional, to put it nicely. I thought, if I’m about to get judged anyway, I’d rather do things my way. They all wanted to share a dance with you, but they were too intimidated to ask. So I got you first. And all of it was worth it. That look of indignation and jealousy on their faces… It was perfect.”

His words were blunt and they definitely did not reflect what Byleth remembered about that night. With other people, Claude would always sugar-coat his words, drape them with sweet nothings. But lately, Byleth had the privilege of his honesty. In some ways, it was more of a curse than a blessing.

“Mmmh, so that’s it…” she simply answered, just a slight hint of sadness in her voice.

“For the longest time, I wasn’t really honest with you… ” he whispered in her ear. “But… Things are different now. After our little conversation at the Goddess Tower that night, I thought… No, _I knew_ that it was fate that brought us together. And the second time I asked you to dance with me… It was for me. Tonight as well. I think I’m selfish.”

Byleth felt the heat building up on her face, and she was sure Claude could feel it as well, because their cheeks were pressed together. Part of her hated how easily he could toy with her newly found emotions with his words, how she never managed to stay mad at him no matter how poisonous he could be. But even though she had yet to understand him completely, one thing she knew for sure was that he wasn’t a liar. And so, she trusted him every time he had opened his heart to her and this night was no different.

A feeling she couldn’t discern left a lump in her throat. “You know, Seteth lectured me afterwards.”

“He did…? Well, I can’t say I’m surprised…”

He smoothly moved his left hand lower to rest on her hip.

“He told me I should have known better…” she mused half to herself, and as she pronounced these words, she finally understood why Seteth had said that of all things. Her blush intensified.

“Well, good thing Seteth isn’t there right now, then,” Claude whispered.

He pulled her closer and let go of her hand to wrap his right arm around her shoulders instead. Byleth didn’t know what to do with her free hand now that Claude wasn’t holding it, so she just wrapped her arms around him awkwardly. He let his head rest into the crook of her neck and the feeling of his breath against her bare skin tickled her.

“I missed this,” he sighted, inhaling her scent. “I… I have always needed you for your strength, I won’t deny it, but… When I call you my friend, I mean it, you know… And during these five years, I also really missed those moments we had together.”

Though she couldn’t see his face, Byleth could feel his heartbeat thundering inside his chest.

She held dearly to these memories as well. Their little secret reunions late at night in the library. Their tea parties. The poison cooking sessions in his bedroom. By the end of the year, the Golden Deer was a united class, but within it Byleth and Claude formed their own entity. An unusual duo. Sometimes, people just get along, and Claude felt like family.

“Hilda was there with me, of course, but it wasn’t really the same… I can’t really let her see me like this,” he said.

Their slow dance came to a halt and Byleth turned her head to look at him. Her nose landed on his hair. He smelled like shampoo and freshly cut grass.

“Do you mean … vulnerable?”

Claude sighted and separated from her. A shiver ran through her body when his warmth left her. Holding her tightly by the shoulders, he looked at her in the eyes.

“No. Like myself.”

He smiled a sad, painful but sincere smile that would have broken Byleth’s heart if she had one.

“Claude…”

“I’m fine. It’s just that, well … sometimes … sometimes I admit I need a break as well.

“Like today. Thank you for thinking of me.”

He let go of his grasp on her shoulders and scratched his head with the look of second-hand embarrassment.

Byleth clenched her fists. “I promise I’m not going anywhere,” she said, and slowly, on an impulse, as a way to ground herself in the present perhaps, she brushed off that strand of wild hair that was always swaying over his face. Instead of pulling away her hand when she was done, she rested it on his cheek. He was burning hot, and suddenly very, very red. His eyes were still locked to hers and glimmering.

“Are you feeling alright?” she asked, ingenious.

Claude looked at her with a perplexed look on his face, the sort of expression he would always do when he was embarrassed, with his eyebrows twisted in a cute and funny way.

“More than alright,” he answered with a soft laugh. As a proof, he planted a kiss there, in the palm of her hand.

He had crossed a line and both knew it, but Byleth didn’t mind and so she let her hand pressed against his lips. His breath was hot. _He_ was hot.

“Is this the way you conclude a dance in your homeland?” she asked.

While Claude knew Byleth could be cheekier than she usually let on, he wasn’t so sure about what was her intention there.

“No, that was a ‘Claude’s special’,” he deflected. “We danced in my fashion, after all, and not in that of my homeland, so I concluded things my way.”

He let go of her hand and gave her an intense look, still visibly unsure about where he wanted this whole situation to go.

Then he saw it appear on her face, a small smile, like she would often gift him when they were alone, except this time it was tinted with a little hint of mischief.

“Would you show me the Almyran way, then?” she asked.

His face twitched ever so slightly at the mention of _that_ name coming out of her mouth. _Of course, she knows_ , he thought. _Not that I have been very subtle about it_.

And because he was feeling so good that night for the first time in too long, so raw and so unusually bold, he took her face in his hands, leaned down and kissed her. He intended it to be just a peck, something he could have pretended was just some sort of bizarre custom had he wanted to, but he quickly realised that he was pouring way too much passion and longing into that kiss for that to be a consideration anymore.

Byleth didn’t really reciprocate at first, but she didn’t protest either. For a second, Claude considered pulling back, excuse himself and run off to his room to die of shame. But he realised her face had moved ever so slightly to accommodate his lips when they had clashed with hers, and when her own mouth parted to welcome his warmth, he understood that she was into it in her own, strange way. After a few moments that felt like minutes, they separated and looked at each other, faces red and eyes hazy with feelings they still wouldn’t name.

“I think I got carried away,” he just said. “And for the record, this was also a Claude’s special. Nothing to do with Almyra.”

She giggled. “You were right… You may not have changed that much after all,” Byleth let out in a whisper, the palm of her hand spread across his chest where she could feel his heart beating steadily. “Thank you, I think I’ve figured out a few things.”

And just like that, she pulled back, gave him a soft “good night” and walked towards the door, leaving him dumbstruck in the middle of the kitchen.

“Ha … happy to help,” Claude mumbled to her back almost too late for her to hear, ruffling his already ruffled hair in a vain attempt to keep composure. He wondered if he had ruined it and his brain ruminated how awkward this would all look like the next day.

But Byleth stopped and turned around to face him once again.

“Claude, for me it doesn’t matter why you did it. I was so happy when you asked me to dance with you that night. I really had a lot of fun. And tonight as well! I hope we can do it again sometimes, if that’s okay with you.”

He smiled brightly at her. He wasn’t exactly sure what she was implying with those words, but it didn’t really matter: his answer would always be the same anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was probably more original when I wrote it six months ago, but I am pretty sure at this point we’ve all read it at least 10 times. That being said, fluff is always good for the soul so I thought I might as well post it. Thank you for reading!


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